Myths About Seat Belts That We Need to Stop Believing

There are some pretty dumb excuses out there that people use for not wearing their seat belt. Here's why they don't actually make sense.

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"It's not a big deal if you're not driving that fast." The truth is you can still get seriously injured or killed at 20 or 30 miles an hour. If you jumped off a three-story building, that's about how fast you'd be going when you hit the ground.

"If your car catches fire or you drive into a lake, your seat belt could trap you." That one's dumb because less than 1% of crashes actually involve fire or water. Plus you're much more likely to get knocked out if you're not wearing a seat belt.

"It's safer to be thrown from the vehicle during a crash." You're actually four times more likely to die if you're thrown from your car.

"Seat belts can cause serious injures if you're in a crash." Even in high-speed wrecks, they mostly just cause bruises.

"You don't need a seat belt if you have airbags." That doesn't work because you'll just slide under the airbag. And airbags don't help if you get T-boned.

"You don't need a seat belt if you're in a really big truck or SUV." Heavier cars are safer. But in 2015, 60% of people who died in truck crashes weren't wearing a seat belt when it happened. It's still a lot safer to wear one.